Calvin Johnson reveals he has nerve damage

ALLEN PARK — Calvin Johnson revealed for the first time on Thursday that he had nerve damage after sustaining the concussion in the loss to the Vikings on Sept. 30.

The Detroit Lions wide receiver hasn’t been himself this season — he has just one touchdown — although he looked more familiar in the win on Sunday at Jacksonville.

He’s had more drops than usual and maybe now we know why. Johnson has also been hampered by a knee injury.

“Actually I had some nerve damage that was kind of messing up my grip a little. Not to blame that, but I think that the concussion could have had something to do with some of that damage I had going on,’’ Johnson said on Thursday.

The effects still linger. He agreed it is basically like a stinger with pain shooting down his arm.

“Taking those hits, they’re real violent. They definitely have a lot of lingering impact on your neck or your head in Jahvid’s case, it can do a lot of stuff,’’ Johnson said. “It’s definitely coming back and feeling a lot better, but it’s the middle of the season.’’

He also took a hard hit in that Vikings game in the second quarter courtesy of safety Harrison Smith.

“He’s obviously been effective regardless. He’s had a bunch of different things come up this year particularly his knees, but he goes out and affects the game the way he does,’’ coach Jim Schwartz said. “That’s no different than Adrian Peterson coming off an ACL and still finding a way to be effective, great players can do that.’’

Johnson has still not caught a touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford this season. He came close on Sunday, getting to the one-yard line.

“Actually on that one I was grabbing the ball, it kind of slipped, it didn’t grab in my hands. I (wanted to) reach out across the line, but I couldn’t get a good grip on it,’’ Johnson said.

He did not say that he had trouble with the grip because of the nerve damage.

This was the first time Johnson mentioned nerve damage. It was the second time he mentioned the concussion from that game. He was tested immediately after the fourth-quarter hit by Chad Greenway (who was fined $21,000 for the hit) for a concussion on the sideline at Ford Field. He passed and was allowed to continue playing.

Schwartz reiterated on Thursday that Johnson did not suffer a concussion that day.

Johnson didn’t practice again on Thursday because of his knee. He missed practice all last week and played one of his best games of the season on Sunday in the win over the Jaguars.

“It’s coming along, it’s definitely feeling better than it was at this point last week so that’s a positive,’’ Johnson said.

“Without going into too much detail, I’ve been doing a lot of stuff in the weight room to strengthen the muscle around (the knee), get it so that it’s firing correctly and I can be as best as I can be on Sunday,’’ Johnson added.

He hopes that as the knee improves, he can at some point get back to practice.

“I don’t want to not be out here practicing, I like to get a good look in practice but at the same time I do know what I need to do by Sunday,’’ Johnson said.

Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said Johnson’s injuries have not tied his hands at calling plays.

“Calvin at any percent on the field is a bonus for me or anybody else,’ Linehan said.